# Dopers living outside the Pacific Northwest, how common are drive-through espresso stands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551 "2017-09-28T23:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/1 "2017-09-28T23:08:33Z")
I believe rather than cool wet weather, big trees, or state borders, the real sign you’re in the Pacific Northwest is the common sight of drive-through roadside stands selling hot caffeinated beverages. However, my assumption could be incorrect so I’m asking if there are a lot of drive-through espresso stands where you live. I’m mainly talking about independent stands and small regional/local chains. Big chains like Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or Tim Horton’s which sell coffee through their drive-through windows don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/2 "2017-09-28T23:12:30Z")
there was about 5 stands here with drive-thrus in the CA high desert and all but one sold out to starbucks when they entered the area… Some one owned a small drive through convience store chain called “the dairy” and turned them a few of them into drive through coffee and did the aforementioned sale The odd thing is starbucks via the city funded hipster downtown reviatizaliation program bought the biggest bank building in town and is turning it into the biggest starbucks for about 100 miles … ATM only thing open is the drive through which still uses the banks drive through system… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/3 "2017-09-28T23:28:43Z")
I live in suburban Chicago. While I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were a small number of them here, they certainly aren’t widespread, and I can’t think of any offhand. In my hometown of Green Bay, WI, I’m aware of at least one, that’s probably been there for at least a decade. It’s changed hands and names several times, but I think it’s still open. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/4 "2017-09-28T23:40:57Z")
There’s one in St. Peters Missouri, about ut 35 miles West of St. Louis. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/5 "2017-09-29T00:18:01Z")
I’ve found a Dutch Bros. kiosk as far south as Woodland, California, just outside Sacramento. When traveling south to north, it gives me hope that I will make it home soon. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/6 "2017-09-29T00:33:57Z")
I can think of 3 within a few km of me in outer suburban Melbourne, Australia. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/7 "2017-09-29T01:59:32Z")
There are a whole bunch of Dutch Brothers out here, and man, are they popular! Also, many Starbucks now have drive-throughs. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/8 "2017-09-29T02:01:39Z")
Rarities here in east central WI. There have been a few, they never lasted long. Nor did they make anything like a decent espresso. :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/9 "2017-09-29T02:11:39Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I believe rather than cool wet weather, big trees, or state borders, …or slugs the size of minivans. I’m in Oregon (and hence ineligible for the OP’s query), but I also note the dramatic fall off in these when I travel away from home. You only have to go as far as about Idaho before they become rare. There’s a fair number of coffee shops (some with drive thrus) near my parents’ home in Minnesota, but they’re pretty much all either Starbucks or Caribou Coffee\*, probably because they need a more expensive permanent facility for heating in MN. - At about 1% the size of Starbucks, the _second_ largest coffee chain in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/10 "2017-09-29T02:38:33Z")
Almost every Starbuck’s have them. Plus the small independents, here in NoCal. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/11 "2017-09-29T02:55:03Z")
I haven’t ever seen one here in Ohio. Drive-through beer marts yes - espresso no. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/12 "2017-09-29T03:40:10Z")
Minneapolis is loaded with Starbucks, Caribou, Dunn Brothers, Dunkin Donuts, and Tim Hortons but I can’t think of a single “drive-thru only” type stand. If anyone knows of any I sure would like to try one. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/13 "2017-09-29T03:42:30Z")
Fairly common in Missoula, Montana, which is definitely not the Pacific Northwest. We’re Northern Rockies. There’s Redneck Apple Country between us and Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/14 "2017-09-29T04:55:12Z")
I live in the Puget Sound area now, but grew up in the Midwest. Never saw a drive-through coffee stand until my first trip out here. My vote for “Most Washington Thing Ever” is Indian reservation fireworks stands with drive-through coffee bars. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/15 "2017-09-29T09:50:52Z")
Never seen one in Texas, but that doesn’t mean they’re not here. I’ve seen a few drive-thru liquor stores, where you enter at one end and drive along pointing to your choices while a clerk follows (other side of the counter). After paying at the end, the clerk slides your stuff over to your window and off ya go. The one closest to me closed a while back, so I haven’t been in one in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/16 "2017-09-29T12:01:06Z")
None that I can think of here in the Detroit area. There _are_ a couple of little, independent coffee houses here and there, but they’re strictly not drive-through affairs, which would make them useful rather than pretentious (although two of them make absolutely fantastic coffee, so I’m willing to suffer their culture long enough to get an Americano to go). ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/17 "2017-09-29T13:15:54Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Never seen one in Texas, but that doesn’t mean they’re not here. > > … Except for Starbucks. Plenty of drive through convenience stores/beer barns. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/18 "2017-09-29T15:04:09Z")
The last one here in Falls Church Va. closed a few years ago. There are almost no drive-through places at all in this immediate area. Land value is too high, I think. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/19 "2017-09-29T16:32:19Z")
I can think of one here in the South Bay, in the Caffino chain. I agree they’re thick on the ground in Oregon. I actually prefer a cafe one can sit in, crazy notion that may be. I was disappointed on my last trip through Oregon when the plethora of cafes I found on Google Maps weren’t actual cafes but drive-throughs. Took a little more dedicated Yelping to sort them out. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551/20 "2017-09-29T18:44:29Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > …or slugs the size of minivans. I’m in Oregon (and hence ineligible for the OP’s query), but I also note the dramatic fall off in these when I travel away from home. You only have to go as far as about Idaho before they become rare. What part of Idaho? Drive-through stands are pretty common in the Coeur d’ Alene area and the rest of the northern part of the state. > [@Derleth](#): > > Fairly common in Missoula, Montana, which is definitely not the Pacific Northwest. On the basis of my trip to Glacier NP a few years ago, there also pretty common in the Kalispell/Whitefish area. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-living-outside-the-pacific-northwest-how-common-are-drive-through-espresso-stands/797551.md?page=2)